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404 TH^ liEADEB, fNo. 370, Saturday
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ROYAL ITALIAN OPERA. Maria di Rohan is u...
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THE BQUFEES PARISIENS AT THE ST. JAMES'S...
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Mr. Gye announces the return of Madame R...
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The sale of ticlccts for tho Crystal Pal...
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
Additionally, when viewing full transcripts, extracted text may not be in the same order as the original document.
The Operas. Her Majesty's Theatre. Fitom...
Reggifnenio the part of Maria might have been written for Mademoiselle Piccolomini ; at . ' all events , she makes it allherown by the perfect truth , naturalness , and sympathy of her acting . The archness and espieglerie of the soldiers ' darling-, the guileless enjoyment of the life of the camp and the march , the affection for her comrades , are not less real and intense than the irrepressible burst of sorrow at the parting from her brothers in arms , so touchingly expressed in the air Convien partir , than the fretful beating against the bars of the aristocratic drawing-room , and the escape into freedom again at the last . Signor Belletti , a most finished singer and effective actor , made his first appearance this season as the Sergeant ; the new tenor , Signor Stecchi Bottarei , whether spell-bound by the fascinations of Maria , or daunted by the success of Giuglini , did not succeed in convincing the audience that he was an acquisition to Her Majesty ' s Tiikatre .
The Traviata , on Thursday evening , drew , as may be supposed , an immense audience . Long before the doors were opened , every approach was besieged by enthusiasts , and we noticed with interest a fair sprinkling of clergymen among the crowd . So much for the effort of all the howling proprieties and all the autumnal denunciations ! It is evident that some pious people are not even content with hearing theTraviata in the diluted form of a vocal festival and an unknown tongue without access to the words . "We never heard such a rustling of leaves at the Opera as on Thursday at all the most favourite episodes in the story . We once heard Ronconi say that two-thirds of the pit never took their eyes off the book of the opera while he was acting the Barbiere , and we are inclined to believe that the clergymen ( whether from pangs of conscience or an imperfect acquaintance with the story , we know not ) saw very little of Madlle . PiccoLomiju oil Thursday . The naughty opera has never created a deeper sensation than on this occasion . The performance was almost unexceptionable : the orchestra , wonderfully improved in delicacy and discretion , the chorus steady , and Signor Bexeventano , when he was not
made unsteady in , the legs by applause ( which maddens him . like a red flag ) , quite agreeable as' the heaviest of fathers . Signor GriuauNi has decidedly increased his reputation by his performance of Alfredo ; he sang with infinitely greater vigour and energy than in the Favoriia , and with equal feeling and elegance . We felt remorseful at having suggested defects in his Fernando which we could not perceive in his Alfredo . His chest voice was particularly . well delivered , and his action was , for the most part , easy and refined . Mademoiselle Piccolomiki surpassed herself ; in the first act , the wayward and capricious insouciance , the fitful , lurking tenderness , and the outward abandonments the hurrying stream of pleasure without love ( for to her love is a presentiment of despair ); in the second act , the almost submissive and imploring self-sacrifice in the interview with the father , the suppressed anguish in the parting from Alfredo , and the resigned humility when he insults her publicly ; in the third act , the startling " make up" of that fresh , young face , now haggard , sunken , ghastly with consumption ; with the deathly languor of the listless , drooping arms , and the deserted misery of the appealing eyes ; the wild despair of the last cry for life , when love has made life precious , all too late :
Gran Dio—inorir si gibvane ! arid the sudden silence of that troubled spirit ; in all these situations Madlle Pi < : coi , O 3 iiNi enchanted and moved the audience in an extraordinary degree . Art so consummate , set in so fair a frame of youth and beauty , is not often seen . The exclamation , Gran Dio- —inorir si giovane ! to which-we have referred , thrilled through the audience , making "the whole world kin , " and giving an uncomfortable sensation in the throat to some of the toughest and coldest dilettanti . Between the acts the moral of the opera was occasionally discussed , and whilst by some it was argued that the unwholesomenesB of the atmosphere , and the vita indegna of . the heroine of the story , might have easily been got rid of by converting the Traviata into a sempstress , ora " beggar maid , "
and Alfredo into a fashionable Cophetua , and that in any case the hospitnlpathos was a little overdone , others insisted that the Fille Perdue , or the " Lost One , " as the libretto says , was a proper subject for the drama , and that the moral of the Traviata was at least in favour of virtuous and moral society , seeing that Violetta is dashed to pieces on the rocks in a desperate attempt to snatch herself from the devouring sea of infamy , and that she is purified by passion and redeemed by death . We are not concerned to take part in this discussion here ; but we may note with natural complacency the intelligent and truly English compromise which throws back the Traviata a century or two , the result of this compromise being a startling combination of gentlemen in the costume of Chari . es II ., stage footmen of the present ( and every other ) day , and ladies of the latest fashion , with an occasional individual whose costume is a cross between Jimmy Boswell and Captain Maciieath .
The Traviata is given again this evening . On Tuesday next , / Puritani , the delru , t of Madlle . Oktolaki , who brings her latest laurels from Madrid . Signor Giuglini will be the Arturo , and report says he is an admirable one ; but we are surprised that Mr . Luni . ev should have failed to understand that the proper tenor to sing with Madlle . Ortolani must be Signor Beccafico . At all events , Her . Majesty ' s Theatre has fairly struck into a vein of inexhaustible success .
404 Th^ Lieadeb, Fno. 370, Saturday
404 TH ^ liEADEB , fNo . 370 , Saturday
Royal Italian Opera. Maria Di Rohan Is U...
ROYAL ITALIAN OPERA . Maria di Rohan is unquestionably one of the feeblest of operas , utterly unworthy of the composer of Lucia , La Favorita , and Lucrczia Borgia . The libretto is "borro-wed from a very striking and effective French drama , but the drama is too much for the music , and the plot is too artificially constructed fox the operatic stage . Your Chorus is not very clever at carrying on the interest of a piece by means of recitative , working up to the denouement , as if it were a besieged city , by a series of parallels , Avhile the leading personages are piling up the agony in the centre of the scene . The overture is the most dreary and uncomfortable infliction of sound and fury , signifying nothing , that can be imagined . It is patchy , pretentious , incoherent , utterly devoid of consistency or continuity , as if the composer had been struck-with a sudden sterilityand had fagged up a
, pasticcio of fragmentary reminiscences in a state of impotent exasperation . With two or three exceptions , thoro is not a note worth remembering from tlie flrst bar to the last , and wo cannot wonder that this opera , in spito ot the genius of a great artist , should be unable to take a settled rank in the repertory . It simply serves the purpose of introducing Ronconi at the beginning of a season in one of his finest displays of acting . Rohconi ' s portormance of Chevreuse is known to bo unsurpfissably fine , and the spectator must go back to the days of Edmund Kean to find its equal in force and passionate intensity . It is an almost unique example of what a true artist can make ot tho most obvious natural difficulties . Against every imnginablo disadvantage of face , fi gure , and voice Konconj has to contend , and such is the transmuting and transforming power of accomplished art , that every
disadvantage is put out ^ of sight ,, and nothing remains to mar the h « Ti effect of a _ masterly picture You see a type of gallant and cluValrnf distinction in every look and gesture , and in the most trvinlr S *« . f- where the dignity of the deceived husband is most compromised the ftp i ° still superior to the duper , and the nobleness of his manner commands rS ? V As a singer , too , Ronconi astonishes and delights the audience bv Mr n ? V * over an ungrateful and impossible voice , harsh , grating , and refractors ? subdued to the expression of the most various emotions by the consummate i n of the singer . Think of the poor effect of the most beautiful vSe wheret ? ' is a voice and nothing more , and you cannot fail to appreciate the imniemf superiority of such a dramatic artist as Ronconi . Madame Rosa lZ , by many-degrees-the best Dmhesse de Chevrevse w . e have ever heard- wheth * be that the partis dramatically and vocally an ungrateful one , or that RoNonv •' supremacy is so overwhelming in this opera , we know not , certainly w ? never before seen an adequate representative of the Duchesse de CW ^' Madame Rosa Deviues may not entirely satisfy our conception of that illi trious and intriguing beauty of the seventeenth century as she is described 1 the enthusiastic and eclectic pen of M . Victor Cousin—une tailleravissantel plus charmant visage , da grands yeux Ileus , de fins et ahonduns cheveux d ' un U & l chatain , leplus beau sein , etdanstoute sa personne un piquant melange de delicatJ
et de vwacite , de grace , etde passion—but she possesses , at least those amni and abundant charms which the posthumous lover describes as cliaX teristic of the illustrious women of the age of Richelieu . At all event Madame Devries displays a voice of considerable power and beaut !' sings with unfailing correctness of intonation , and extorts a tribute f applause from one of the coldest audiences we have ever witnessed M & ch moiselle Didiek sang the airs for the contralto with singular elegance and sweetness , but with a certain languor ( on the evening we were present which may have been either distaste or indisposition . Signor ^ NEri Baraldi is a very pleasing light tenor , with a fresh young voice of no ereat power , but veil trained and agreeable ; and his apting is easy and natural The orchestra at this house maintains its undisputed supremacy ; in the performance of the overture , and in all the accompaniments , it left absolutely nothing to bo desired . °
On Monday the universal Trovatore was revived for the renlrieot Marxo who--has had the most brilliant success in Paris this winter in the part of Manrico . Mario returns in good voice , and in the last two acts of the opera he justifies the common saying among Opera-goers , that , after all , Mario , when in health ^ and good temper , is still , far and away , the first of tenors . There is a virility in his voice , and a distinction in his method of singing which no _ other tenor equals or resembles . What a pity it is that the bouquet of sitch a voice should be faded , and that the falsetto should now occupy so lar « c a place in its once noble range of tone ! Grisi is still the superb and admirable artist ; Grayrani has made the music allotted to the Conte de Luna his own , and Madlle . Didiee is a very fair reduced copy of Madame Viardot , whose : noble , picturesque , and romantic impersonation of Azucena she imitates not unsuccessfully , arid sings like a miniature Alboni .
The Bqufees Parisiens At The St. James's...
THE BQUFEES PARISIENS AT THE ST . JAMES'S THEATRE . A TYPOGRApnicAX error in a contemporary has converted the Bonnes Parisiens into the Bouffes I ^ arisiens , thereby suggesting to the uninitiated public that the French company , announced by Mr . Mitchell , is nothing less than a troupe of Bouffes , which would indeed be a surprising dramatic family . We may as well tell our readers what these Bouffes Parisiens really are . They are a select company of eccentric comedians , of and from Paris , unique and admirable after their kind , who perform the wildest and most extravagant farces , interspersed with the gayestj the prettiest , and most iriqiiante music . At their little box of a theatre in the Champs Ely sees , and subsequently at the Theatre Cobite ( about the size of the Sdiio Theatre ) , in the Passage Choiseul , they were the rage of the French metropolis . And no wonder , for anything more irresistibly amusing , more delightfully perfect in its way , than their buffooneries , is not to be conceived . There is not an indifferent actor in the troupe . The singing is , after its own fashion , excellent , and the compact little orchestra is conducted by a first-rate musician , M . Offenbach , a gentleman in whom the nicest artistic sense is combined with rare skill as a composer and conductor .
The evident zest and spirit with which each member of this little band of brothers works , is as remarkable as the completeness of the general effect . We can only see one difficulty in the acclimatization of the Bouffes in the colder and denser atmosphere of London . They are essentially and individually of Paris Parisian . To enjoy their fun and frolic one must not only be thoroughly at home in tho French language , but in French , and , still more , in Paris life , and manners , and slang . Ignorance of the language , we are aware , does not keep an audience away , rather the reverse . Two-thirds of Madame Ristoiu ' s audience were sublimely ignorant of the language of Dante and Altieri , and only caught the sense of the words by flashes ; but tlic select few understood and admired , and the fashionable many were leavened by tho select few . In the case of the Bouffes , too , there is quite enough in tl * e « . niere pantomime of the actors , and in the sparkling and sprightly music , to send the world of fashion and ' the general public in crowds to the theatre again and again , and we arc disposed to congratulate the enterprising and energetic Mr . MtTciiELt , very heartily on this new proof of his courage and ability as a caterer of all the delicacies of tho season . Wo have often wished that instead of two Italian Operas we had the company from the Salle Ventadour . established at the Lyceum .
Mr. Gye Announces The Return Of Madame R...
Mr . Gye announces the return of Madame Risroni to tho Lyceum in June . The renowned Italian tragedienne , whoso success in Paris shows no symptoms ot decrease , will appear this season in the new drama , written expressly for her by the distinguished Florentine poet and patriot , Montanelli , and in an Italian version of Macbeth , in which , however , the Lady Macbeth will 1 ) 0 the principal character . Tho appearaneo of Madame Ristori , in a part consecrated by the traditions of Mrs . Siddons , cannot fail to excite great interest among her multitude of admirers in England .
The Sale Of Ticlccts For Tho Crystal Pal...
The sale of ticlccts for tho Crystal Palace Handel Festival is rapidly progressing . Tho seats in the four central blocks of the Great Transept were all disposed of more than ten days since , and the applications for tho other reserved stalls have been exceedingly numerous . Tho Lower Hall , Exeter Hall , is now open for tho sales of seats , and is thronged daily by applicants . Tho price ot n stall for a single oratorio is one guinea , or two guineas and a half for tho scries of three performances .
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), April 25, 1857, page 20, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_25041857/page/20/
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